Let's follow the main south line from Adelaide to Tailem Bend to see what historic bits and pieces I can find, and see what they look like today. Who knows? I might even do a bit of trainspotting as this video is all about the history of a still active main line!
Let’s dig a little deeper and fly a little higher as we go exploring some mainline history.
The Main South Railway Line from Adelaide travels east over the Mount Lofty ranges to the Murray River at Murray Bridge and onwards to Victoria. Construction began in 1879 with the Adelaide to Nairne railway line. Things escalated quickly and the line progressed to the Victorian border by 1887.
It opened to Nairne with 11 stations, Goodwood, Mitcham, Blackwood, Belair, Mount Lofty, Aldgate, Bridgewater, Ambleside, Balhannah, Mount Barker Junction and Nairne. Stations further east along the line to Tailem Bend on opening there were Callington, Monarto, Murray Bridge, and Tailem Bend. At the time, the arduous route over the hills was single track for the entire route and included nine tunnels and three large bridges.
REFERENCES:
Sallis, Roger. 1998, Railways in the Adelaide Hills
| Roger W. Sallis. R. W. Sallis Salisbury, SA
Callaghan, W. H. (William H.), 1939- & Australian Railway Historical Society. New South Wales Division. 1992, The overland railway | by W.H. Callaghan. Australian Railway Historical Society, New South Wales Division St James, N.S.W.
https://www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0031/1158538/Then-and-Before-Glimpses-of-the-Belair-Line-in-the-Age-of-Steam-1883-1969-by-Janet-Callen.pdf
https://www.mitchamcouncil.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0024/90447/a_hills_rail_history_by_train_3.pdf
Flour Mill at Murray Bridge: denisbin from Adelaide, Australia, CC BY-SA 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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